Q&A: Rosemary Nalden

What inspired you to begin Buskaid?In late 1991, I heard a piece on BBC Radio 4's Today programme about a string project in Soweto needing help. The Busked Trust UK was founded to support that project, which later fell into unresolvable difficulties. For this reason I decided to start our Music School, but the real inspiration came from my sporadic teaching of the children in the 1990s: I was fascinated by their innate musicality, their physical talent and their irrepressible enthusiasm. It's all still there, 16 years later!

What were the initial challenges?Huge - coping with a very alien culture, being so far away from my family, friends and my familiar lifestyle; finding a safe teaching venue, and having to teach in one tiny dilapidated room in Soweto; trying (largely unsuccessfully) to persuade teachers in Johannesburg to come and help me; learning about running a not-for-profit organisation, fundraising, building a music school, fighting prejudice against negative perceptions of "Eurocentric" music, especially at that very sensitive time in South African history.

How has your work developed? In ways I could have never dreamed of: it has developed from a rather basic little string orchestra playing student material to a polished, professional Ensemble; from 15 pupils to 115 (and that figure could be 10,015 if we had the resources!); from one teacher (me) to a large group of skilled young Buskaid-trained string teachers.

To date, what have been the high points?Obviously, performing at the BBC Proms in 2007 for a large and wildly enthusiastic audience. But high points happen all the time, and quite unexpectedly – in rehearsals, in lessons, when your pupil moves you to tears (for the right reasons!) … in concerts when we all know instinctively that our music-making has deeply affected the audience; and playing to enraptured audiences all over the world - from Damascus to Dublin, Auckland to Aleppo, the list is endless…. And of course there is always joy when we receive sponsorship of any kind!

And what have been the lows?I think that apart from the awful disappointments and worries when you are rejected by a sponsor, my biggest sadness has occurred when really promising young musicians we've taught and nurtured from an early age decide on another career path. In South Africa, a career in classical music is not really regarded as a secure or attractive option, and it is never even mentioned by school career advisors. Furthermore, you cannot expect the generation of parents who were deprived of a proper education and who grew up in poverty, to begin to understand why their children should risk a career in the Arts.

One example that still upsets me is of a girl who could now be arguably the finest cellist in this country. My colleague Sonja Bass (our only other Johannesburg-based teacher) taught her from the age of eight, the Buskaid Trust paid for her academic schooling and then raised the money to send her to the UK to study. She turned the offer down, chose a completely different career and hardly touches the cello. You never stop wondering where you went wrong.

There are also numbers of youngsters we've taught who, because their lives were so damaged even before they came to us, got caught up in the drug/alcohol culture, thereby losing fantastic opportunities to become top musicians. One who actually rehabilitated himself was killed four years ago, just as he had returned to Buskaid to resume a successful career as a violinist. We are currently helping another talented young man whom I've taught since he was nine. Though we paid for his education and gave him as much support as we could, someone supplied him with drugs, and as a result he developed schizophrenia a few years ago. That's not easy for any of us, and it is distressing to observe how painfully difficult his life is, when you know in your heart how very different it could have been.

What's been the most surprising response you've received?In 2002 we gave our Fifth Anniversary Concert at the main concert venue in Johannesburg. Seven minutes into the performance, the local substation blew up and the whole place was plunged into darkness. The complex had no generator and it was far too dangerous for the audience to leave, so we played the entire concert pretty well from memory (a feat I don't think many professional orchestras could achieve), with just a dozen hastily assembled candles lighting the stage. The audience went mad at the end, and I still get people coming up to me who were there and who say it was the most memorable event of their lives!

What are your future plans for the project?A short-term plan is to give a series of concerts in the UK next July, though we have to raise the money first! Long-term: teaching and financial sustainability are key. We have the first nailed, but the second is very wobbly. We don't get the sort of state support that El Sistema enjoys and that makes life very stressful for the Trustees and for me. Furthermore, our Music School (built for 35 kids and two teachers, now housing 115 children and 12 teachers) is far too small and we must find the funds to build our planned extension, otherwise we shall all go mad. Buskaid has to flourish and develop – it's one of South Africa's finest assets and it fulfils a vital double role in the community – cultural and social.

If you could pass on one word of advice to people setting up similar projects, what would it be?Unless you are wholeheartedly committed for the right reasons - music, children, education – don't even contemplate it! Passion is the driving force and if that isn't there, then you'll never sustain something so all-consuming. And above all else, high quality teachers should be your biggest priority.

What musicians from the past or present inspire you? Firstly my father, whose early beginnings were far more grim than those of my Soweto charges. When he was three weeks old he was given away by his mother to Coram, the Foundling Hospital. He overcame impossible odds with no outside help to become an eminent musician, a towering and pioneering force in New Zealand music education and performance. Much later, the inspirational force behind my teaching was the great British violin teacher, Sheila Nelson, without whose friendship, guidance and superb teaching material I could not have achieved what I have. In my performing career, I have been inspired by Roger Norrington who first introduced me to authentic performance practice in some amazing and ground-breaking projects, and John Eliot Gardiner, in whose original and imaginative projects - from Monteverdi to Berlioz - I was involved for over 35 years. And I acknowledge all my wonderful musician colleagues who are also my friends (many of whom busked all those years ago), with whom I have been so privileged to play.

Buskaid perform in 2012 at the Linder Auditorium. Photograph: Graham de Lacy

If I had to choose the music of only one composer it would be Bach, closely followed by Mozart, whose operas I love passionately, Beethoven, Monteverdi, Rameau; Brahms, Berlioz, Schumann….. And I also want to mention Soweto Suite for Strings which Karl Jenkins had arranged especially for us. It's a fantastic piece, and we are very lucky to be the recipients of his generosity.

The International RPS Honorary Memberships are given in association with the British Council and in partnership with the Guardian.

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